A Way Forward, Media Release, 27 June 2023

Thousands of Northern Rivers residents have been waiting anxiously for 16 months to see whether or not they would receive assistance via home buy-backs, retrofitting or house raising. This week, hundreds are being told they will receive no help from Government.

Residents who narrowly escaped their homes with water flowing high through the second storey, have received curt phone calls from Service NSW to inform them they will receive nothing. Many are still homeless, living with family or in partly destroyed homes. Morale has dropped to a new low.

Beverly Jan Rawson of Broadwater said “it has been the hardest day since the floods. We are totally Invisible.”

Members of A Way Forward are calling on the NSW and Federal Governments to urgently provide additional funding to the NRRC to extend their Resilient Homes program. Climate disruption has hit our communities hard, and this region could be an example of adaptation and preparation for what comes next. However, it is currently at risk of being an example of how we left our communities behind.

A Way Forward (AWF) is a group that consists of community leaders, academics, town planners, legal experts, environmentalists and economists who have been meeting with the NRRC since it became active last October, seeking to gain clarity of process and now, to provide advocacy for the community. At a meeting with the NRRC this Monday, according to AWF spokesperson David Tomlinson, it became increasingly clear that the resources to return Lismore and the neighbouring towns and villages to health are woefully inadequate.

“The NRRC has received $700 million for the first stage of the buy-back programme. This tranche of funding is easily exhausted. The NRRC received more than 6400 registrations of interest from across the northern rivers but only 1011 buy-backs are underway. The target for buybacks now stands at 1,650, 150 fewer than initially estimated. The funding falls far short of our community’s needs.”

“Residents who receive no help from either tranche are likely to become trapped on the flood plain with nowhere to go. House values have plunged since the floods and flood insurance is not available for homes or businesses.”

The eligibility criteria for buybacks, specifically the risk categories identified in the maps, generated concerns. The NRRC explained that they employed a widely accepted methodology of assessing a 1 in 500-year flood risk. This methodology was applied across seven local government areas, taking into account factors such as velocity, depth, and danger. Council models, SES data and other inputs including the recommendations from the flood inquiry were utilised to define the risk criteria. When asked why the 2022 flood was not included, the NRRC said it wasn’t included because it was ‘an extraordinary event that was unlikely to happen again’. AWF were concerned about the equity of the offers across the community, and the processes undertaken to make the determinations.

At the meeting, Professor Jerry Vanclay stressed the importance of peer review in validating the methodology applied. He provided evidence that the February 2022 flood was predictable and needs to be considered in forward planning.

With the limited funding available, the AWF group recognises that Lismore is the most important area of strategic focus for the rebuild at this stage. However, Dr Hanabeth Luke, a member of the AWF group, said there were grave concerns that heavily impacted downstream communities felt they were being left behind.

“The speed and impact of the 2022 floodwaters on upstream and downstream communities must also be recognised,” she said. “Whether or not that includes house-raising or other measures, we need to think about adaptation for the whole catchment.”

In addition to the technical aspects, the meeting highlighted the communication challenges faced by the NRRC. Annie Kia voiced concerns regarding the community’s understanding of the risk and the detrimental impact of uncertainty on mental health. The Flood Recovery Study showed that uncertainty has been linked to more than half of affected residents not coping.

The meeting concluded with inquiries regarding the release of NRRC tranche 2 funding, an uncertain timeline for the government’s decision. It was noted that the NRRC have made representations to the government requesting the release of the second tranche funding, and this decision now rests with the New South Wales State and Federal government.

“We must take urgent steps, locally and nationally, to adapt to a future which is vastly different from the one we know.”, said Mr Tomlinson.